Ideology - Tim O'Sulivan et al (1998)

Ideology refers to a set of ideas which produces a partial and selective view of reality.  Ideology involves widely held ideas or beliefs which are seen as ‘common’ sense and become accepted by society.

It helps us to make judgements about the world and the different views people have within it.

Ideology, it can be argued, is one mechanism by which a ruling group tries to deceive and control the ruled.

It implies that a powerful group can choose how and what messages are leaked to the media and that society view these people in certain ways because if expectations.

Because of Ideology we have ideas about the world that we live in. Because the media is so powerful it can control what and how ideas are portrayed to an audience/consumer. The more powerful you are in society the more control you have over how messages are given to an audience.